Bye-Bye Brett

Brett Favre is the epitome of what a professional athlete should be. Not only was Favre at the top of his sport, but he had charsima, pizzazz, leadership qualities, and so much more. Brett Favre was more than a great football player. Brett Favre was a great man. Favre was a guy who went out onto the field on Sundays and genuinely loved to compete. It’s not every day that an athlete seems to be playing for the love of the game, but that’s just what Brett did. Favre was his own man, he wasn’t like other sports figures. Brett Favre transcended what a typical athlete IS, and was what an athlete is SUPPOSED TO BE. And he did it in style, in his own way.

Is it tough to see Favre go? Most any football fan would certainly say so. Some may ask, why did he leave with his last pass being an interception? My response . . . why not? This is Brett Favre, ladies and gentleman. This is the man who is the all-time NFL leader in career interceptions, a trade-off for his style of play. Maybe it’s fitting that Favre’s last pass was such a “bad” one. Maybe it was meant to be. Maybe, just maybe, it only enhances Favre’s legacy of loving the game. He isn’t going to try to build his legend anymore or appease fans. Walking out in the way Brett did just proves that he isn’t overly concerned with one play or one mistake, but rather one career and one family. The career would be his own, and it was darn sure a great one. The family would be his own, with his wife and two daughters. And is Favre really leaving on a bad note? That’s certainly up for debate. The obvious answer is yes. His Packers went 13-3 in the regular, and were facing off with the Giants, who went 10-6 in the regular season, a team Green Bay beat in Week Two. The Pack had home field advantage for an NFC Championship Game, playing on the Frozen Tundra of Lambeau Field in sub-zero weather. It was seemingly perfect, the superior team with the 17-year veteran at QB, playing on its own field. Yet, this isn’t some story-tale, this is the National Football League. Green Bay lost. Some people blame Favre, saying the cold got to him, his age finally caught up with him, his INT cost them the game, and so on and so forth. No way. Yes, Favre played a role in the loss, but so did Head Coach Mike McCarthy, Cornerback Al Harris, Running Back Ryan Grant, and so many more people. As well, Green Bay was never supposed to make this game. At the start of the season, someone saying the Pack would go 13-3 and play in the NFC title game, at home no less, would have been laughed at. The Packers rode their high-flying offense, and solid defense throughout the season. They trasnformed from a team with an outside shot at a wild card, into a squad with a legitimate chance at a Super Bowl win. So I ask this, could Favre have picked a better time to go? There may not have been a better chance for #4 to retire than this off-season. Though the Pack might have had a shot at getting back to the NFC Championship Game, they most likely were not going to get to the Super Bowl, or win it for that matter. Favre said that he felt the only way he would come back is if he could win a Super Bowl, something Green Bay is unlikely to do. Thus, maybe Brett made a great decision. He carried his team to the NFC Championship Game, had a great last season, and walked away near the top of his sport.

Favre will be sorely missed in the NFL. The things Brett has gone thorugh, beating alcoholism and pain killer addiction, dealing with his father’s death and his wife’s breast cancer, and so on, make Brett Favre far more than your average football player. Favre was what athletes should be, how they used to be, and how people want them to be. Brett Favre was a player than most any parent would be happy for their child to look up to as a role model. Isn’t that more important than football skills? Brett Favre walking away from the game at the age of 38 will not chance who he is, or what he accomplished. Brett Favre will still be Brett Favre, whether on the field, or off it.

New York Giants- Super Bowl XLII Champs

No, that isn’t a misprint, the Giants really did win the Super Bowl. The underdogs rallied late in the fourth quarter to shock the previously undefeated New England Patriots (and pretty much the rest of America) by a score of 17-14. The Giants won the Super Bowl . . . let that sink in . . . go ahead, take a few seconds. . . . . . .

OK? Yup, the G-Men are the champs. Say what you want about Eli Manning, Tom Coughlin, Michael Strahan, and heck, even Lawrence Tynes, but the Jints defied all the odds and won the Super Bowl. For the record, I’ve certainly taken my fair share of shots at Eli and Co. In fact, I’ll probably continue to do so, but I’ll do so with the knowledge that the “other” Manning did lead his team to teh most shocking Super Bowl victory ever. In fact, it may well be the biggest upset in sports history. I mean seriously, the 10-6 Giants and the 16-0 Patriots, the team people had already begun to call the greatest ever. It’s simple, the G-Men have no shot, right? I thought so, especially after the Spygate allegations that surface just one day before the Super Bowl. You know what, the Giants didn’t have a realistic chance, but they won anyway. The Jints went above and beyond reality. They played absolutely out of their minds these past 5 games. From their week 17 loss to New England through their Super Bowl win over the Pats, the New York Giants played better than they had all season. They played as if they felt they were the best team in the NFL, and they proved on February 2, that they most certainly were the best . . . arguably. There will be people who will continue to say that the Pats were the best team in the NFL this season, and though they may very well be, the Giants won the championship, and that is all that matters.

Eli Manning has gone from being a scapegoat in New York, to being the Super Bowl MVP. David Tyree has gone from being a special-teams player who few people outside of New York and New Jersey had ever heard of, to being a Super Bowl hero. Tom Coughlin has gone from the hot seat, to blazing a trail of flames all the way to the Lombardi Trophy. Ahmad Bradshaw went from little-used rookie to leading his team in rushing in the Super Bowl. Michael Strahan has gone from being a hold-out to being a key part of a Super Bowl champion team. Kevin Boss has transformed from a no-name rookie into a guy who made a clutch catch in the Super Bowl. The New York Giants have gone from being a laughingstock, to being the envy of the football world.

So yes, the New York Giants really are the Super Bowl XLII champs.

Johan Santana Heads to NY

As I’m sure many of you know by now, the New York Mets and Minnesota Twins have agreed on a deal to send two-time Cy Young winner Johan Santana from Minnesota to Queens, for four prospects. The prospects that the Mets are trading include hot-shot outfielder Carlos Gomez, up-and-coming pitcher Kevin Mulvey, youngster Deolis Guerra, and Philip Humber.

Carlos Gomez reached the majors last year and was off to a solid, but rocky start, before an injury sidelined him. Gomez is a great fielder and may end up as one of the fastest guys in the bigs one day. Gomez was the main piece in this trade. Kevin Mulvey is still young, but had a great year, and was recently honored by the New Jersey Sportswriters Association as the Mets’ Minor League Player of the Year. Mulvey should develop into a steady number two or three starter. Philip Humber is a bit of a mystery. He was a big-timer coming out of Rice and was the third pick in the draft just a few years ago. Humber has falied to live up to expectataions, and may not become more than a fourth or fifth starter. Deolis Guerra was the least known player in the deal, but has lots of potential. The pitcher is just 18, and if he can stay on the path is he on now, Guerra could be a future star.

All said, the Twins should have taken a deal elsewhere when they had the chance. The Yankees had a deal on the table that included a top-notch pitching prospect, either Phil Hughes or Ian Kennedy, as well as future stud outfielder Melky Cabrera. The Twins balked at the offer, thinking that a better deal was yet to come, but when it didn’t they were forced to settle for less. The Mets got a great deal, and were able to keep some of their main prospects, such as OF Fernando Martinez and SP Mike Pelfrey.

The addition of Johan Santana gives the Mets a very imposing pitching staff, with Santana, Pedro Martinez, John Maine, Oliver Perez, and Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez. When your fifth starter is a proven winner and playoff vet, it says a lot about the quality of your rotation. The Mets have got to be the favorites in the NL, though they probably aren’t on the level of the best teams in the AL: the Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Angels, and maybe the New York Yankees. Regardless, the Mets are a top five MLB club with a great shot at a World Series run. Hmmm… sounds familiar…

Meanwhile, on the Twins’ end, they may not have gotten a good deal for their ace, but they are set up nicely for the future. The Twins always have a great farm system, and now their youngsters are even better, both in the majors and minors. Minnesota boasts fromer number one pick Delmon Young and Carlos Gomez in the outfield. As well, their pitching staff should be grat in a few years, led by Francisco Liriano, Kevin Mulvey, and Deolis Guerra. In addition, Minnesota locked up fromer AL MVP Justin Morneau with a six-year extension, and gave Michael Cuddyer a three-year extension of his own.

Only time will tell how the prospects turn out for the Twins. One thing is certain though, the Mets just found the ace of their staff and should have him for the next six to eight years.

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